This invention relates to thoracic catheters of the type used for postsurgical drainage purposes to remove air and/or body fluids from the chest or other body cavities of patients.
After open chest surgery, it is generally necessary to drain fluids and/or air created by the patient's body as a result of the surgery. Thoracic catheters are used for this purpose. To drain the air and/or body fluids, an additional or secondary incision is made between the patient's ribs from the outside of the chest. A hemostat or clamp is placed through the secondary incision. The hemostat or clamp then punctures the pleura, if the pleura had not already been cut during the making of the secondary incision. The thoracic catheter is then placed through the open chest cavity and is grasped on its proximal end by the hemostat. The hemostat is then used to pull the catheter through the chest wall and into position to achieve proper chest drainage. It may be necessary to then cut off the proximal tip of the catheter, depending on the type of catheter being used, to create a funnel end that is connected to a negative pressure-generating apparatus.
There are several disadvantages of the typical prior art thoracic catheter discussed above. A first disadvantage is that a clamp or hemostat must be used to pull the catheter through the secondary incision and, in most cases, to also rupture the pleura. The hemostat or clamp may slip and puncture a lung or tear the end of the catheter.
A second disadvantage of prior art thoracic catheters is that a relatively large secondary incision is required to enable the catheter to be pulled through the secondary incision. The large secondary incision is needed to permit the clamp or hemostat to enter the secondary incision for pulling of the catheter. The large incision results in more tissue damage and requires greater time to heal.
A third disadvantage of such prior art catheters is that the large secondary incision may make proper sealing between the secondary incision opening and the catheter difficult to achieve. A poor seal may allow infection-causing bacteria to enter the space between the secondary incision and the catheter.
A fourth disadvantage of such prior art catheters is that such catheters are difficult to use with patients having thicker chest walls. On such patients, it is difficult to maneuver and grasp the proximal end of the catheter with the hemostat or clamp to pull the catheter through the chest wall.
A fifth disadvantage of these typical prior art catheters also results from the large secondary incision. The large secondary incision does not provide support to the catheter to keep the catheter in place along with the sutures that may be used to seal the space between the catheter and the tissue.